A blower is used in a conventional device or a conventional method of this type in order to produce a downwardly directed air stream in a fill pipe of a packaging machine in order to apply additional acceleration to a free falling, pourable product portion, and in this manner to shorten the falling time and to increase the packaging speed. The air stream is guided from the lower end of the fill pipe into the annular gap and from there upwardly out of the format pipe. The blower is used at its suction side as a suction device so that a circulating air stream is achieved. The air stream is continuous, namely a permanent air stream is provided.
The conventional device and the conventional method have the disadvantage that only a uniform influence can be applied to a falling cluster of particles. Thus, the cluster lead at the bottom experiences the same air stream as the upper cluster end, thus the cluster length cannot be influenced. The cluster length, however, is just as important for the filling time as the falling time. A short compact particle cluster can be filled more quickly than a longer one. In addition, a specific cluster length can be advantageous for a specific packaging sequence.